1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag apparatus that protects an occupant of a vehicle with gas generated by an inflator upon a collision of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles are conventionally equipped with an airbag apparatus that is inflated with gas generated by an inflator to protect an occupant in case of an emergency where the vehicles are subject to a strong impact.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-145098 (hereinafter, referred to as Document 1) discloses an airbag apparatus comprising a first thin airbag apparatus that is stored in a folded state in an instrument panel and deployed along an inner surface of a windshield glass by being supplied with gas generated in an inflator so as to prevent the head of an occupant from contacting with the windshield glass, and a second thin airbag apparatus that is deployed along an upper surface of the instrument panel so as to prevent the head of the occupant from contacting with the instrument panel.
However, the air bag apparatus disclosed in Document 1 requires an inflator with a large gas delivery to inflate the first and second airbags, which requires a larger inflator and limits a storing location of the airbag apparatus, as well as increases weight and cost. Furthermore, the increase in the gas delivery from the inflator is not favorable. In addition, Document 1 discloses a technology where tips of the first and second airbags are connected by a flexible non-inflation member so as to improve an initial restraint performance on the head of the occupant upon a frontal impact crash. However the non-inflation member simply uses a reactive force of the first and second airbags to move away from each other for restraining the head of the occupant, and the initial restraint of the head of the occupant may not be performed with an appropriate pressure.